1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical connectors, more particularly to optical connectors with a protecting mechanism to protect an optical module thereof from being covered by dust.
2. Description of Related Art
WO. Patent Publication No. 2008/121731 A1 discloses an optical connector designed with a plurality of optical fibers to increase signal transmission speed of a standard USB connector. The optical connector defines a mating port to receive a corresponding plug, and includes an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts retained in the housing to transmit electrical signals, and a plurality of optical fibers to transmit optical signals for increasing signal transmission speed. The housing has a tongue extending forwardly into the mating port. The tongue defines a plurality of slots at a lower side thereof. The contacts include contact portions catileveledly received in the slots. The optical fibers have light receiving elements located below the tongue and forwardly exposed into the mating port to mate with the plug. However, when the optical connector does not mate with the plug, the light receiving elements of the optical fibers are exposed to the exterior, which easily cause the light receiving elements being covered by dust, and then the optical connector can not transmit optical signals stably.
Hence, an improved optical connector is desired to overcome the above problems.